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Top 10 Blog Posts of 2011 from CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc
Managing Partner, CivilEngineeringCentral.com
View Matt’s profile & connect with him on LinkedIn
For the 2nd consecutive year the CivilEngineeringCentral.com blog has amassed over 51,000 visitors…not too shabby considering that in 2008, the blog’s first year of existence, we had just over 16,000 visitors!
Thanks to all of our readers for reading, sharing, contributing and commenting. The goal of this blog is to discuss a wide array of topics specifically as they relate to the civil engineering community. Typical topics include project management, civil engineering job search, hiring, civil engineering projects, education, marketing, civil engineering career paths, career advancement, client development, social networking for civil engineers, civil engineering infrastructure, licensure and certification, training and development, etc.
Beyond the home page of the blog which receives the most visitors, below is the list of the Top 10 Blog Posts of 2011:
1. Hiring and Job Interviews Gone WILD! A Few True Tales from the Civil Engineering Job Search Archives
2. Are You Having as Much Fun as This Guy?
3. The Civil Engineering Boss Who “Knows it All”
4. Top 9 Most Recent “C’mon Man” Moments in Civil Engineering Recruiting
5. Civil Engineering “Dream” Projects
6. Conversation With a Civil Engineer
7. Civil Engineers: Laid Off? Now What?
8. Is Your Civil Engineering Firm Getting Squeezed?
9. Negotiating the Non-Sense in Your Non-Compete
10. Civil Engineers: It’s Time to Get Organized from A-to-Z
From the bottom of our hearts here at CivilEngineeringCentral.com, we truly thank you for the time you take to visit our blog. May you and yours have a safe and joyous Holiday Season and an amazingly prosperous 2012!
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Happy Holidays From CivilEngineeringCentral.com
We would like to take a moment to thank all of those who help make CivilEngineeringCentral.com a successful and relevant venture:
Don
Matt O. & Dusty
Anthony
Babette
All Of Our Guest Bloggers
All Of Our Customers Who Advertise On Our Site
All Of Our 2300+ Followers On Twitter
All Of Our 750+ Facebook Fans
All Of Our 5760+ LinkedIn Group Members
All Of Our 51,000 Annual Blog Visitors
All Of Our Friends & Family Who Continue To Support Us
HAVE A HAPPY & SAFE HOLIDAY SEASON & MAY ALL OF YOUR HOLIDAY WISHES COME TRUE!
Birds of a Feather Flock Together: Why Homogeneity Is Not So Good
Featured Guest Blogger: Babette Ten Haken
Author, Do YOU Mean Business? Technical / Non Technical Collaboration, Business Development and YOU
Sales Aerobics for Engineers
Strategies and Toolkit for the Sales-Engineering Interface
Connect With Babette On Linkedin
Read The Sales Aerobics For Engineers Blog
Do you tend to stick to your own kind when having business discussions? Do you feel misunderstood, marginalized, victimized, and alone amidst the drift of sales spiel and techno-babble? In other words, is cross-functional communication on your list of things not to do during those dreaded Monday morning meetings… let alone on your list of things you never would target to do?
You know what they say about hybrid vigor in nature! A little diversity goes a long way towards the longevity of the species. Otherwise you may end up non-communicating yourself right into an endangered species status.
Yes, I know you feel you are special, that people should and do clamor for your professional expertise. And, in desiring your expertise, they should put up having to feel like they are on the outside looking in when you speak to them. How about speaking with them in dialogue? How about suspending the lingo from the wonderful world of architecture and engineering in order to be understood by your clients and, just possibly, your peers as well?
OK. If you are talking about load points in a truss system, you must be specific. However, if you gaze at everyone’s eyes while delivering this discourse – rather than a dialogue – are they interested in what you have to say or have they written you off as someone who best fits in with the flock? When your customers, and even your peers, write you off as someone who would prefer to stick to their own kind, they perceive you as a commodity. Yes, a commodity and a stereotype of what a technical professional is “supposed” to be all about. You know, only comfortable sticking with and speaking to their “own kind.”
Which doesn’t exactly make you globally competitive. Or even locally competitive.
Because thought leaders are accessible to the breadth and depth of their constituents.
Yes, we know you are very, very smart and have invested in some very expensive education. If you can’t communicate outside your flock, then how do you know you are headed in the right direction with your customers? You are on the inside, looking out, rather than at the head of that chevron. And the last time I checked, thought leaders lead a diverse mix of followers because they communicate across disciplines and levels of knowledge.
They inspire.
I spend a lot of time working with technical professionals on communicating their value to both their internal and external customers. And that value translates directly into their ability to positively impact their company’s revenue stream. And their company is run by a diverse mix of individuals, collaborating for the sake of business development and revenue generation.
Sticking to your own kind and seeking homogeneity in your professional relationships may be comfortable to you. But it won’t sustain your business over the long haul.
I strongly recommend you move at least 1 millimeter outside your comfort level.
Interested in continuing this dialogue? My book, Do YOU Mean Business? will be available 2/2012. Click on the link http://www.doyoumeanbusiness.com to continue our discussion and receive updates.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
We would like to take a moment during this Thanksgiving holiday to thank each and every one of our loyal visitors who read, share, and often contribute and respond to our blog each and every week. We would also like to thank our special guest bloggers who always bring relevant and noteworthy topics to the table for our readership.
On behalf of the entire CivilEngineeringCentral.com crew, we wish you and yours a Happy & Safe Thanksgiving holiday !
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Civil Engineers: Laid Off? Now What?
Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc
Managing Partner, CivilEngineeringCentral.com
View Matt’s profile & connect with him on LinkedIn
Each month at Precision Executive Search we reach hundreds of civil engineering professionals across the country in our recruiting efforts. Beyond the normal recruiting conversations that are had I try to probe the minds of my candidates about different things they are seeing. During the month of October we wanted to find out what all those civil engineers who have been laid off are up to. Beyond just looking for a new job, have they left the industry altogether? Or have they maybe started their own consulting business? Based upon the information we found out through our conversations, and based upon a poll that we posted on LinkedIn asking these very questions, here is what we came to find :
•About 63% are pursuing a new job
•About 12% have left the industry and are trying something different
•About 25% have started consulting on their own
It is the 25% that I would like to discuss.
While taking a bike ride on a crisp and colorful autumn morning with our children along the Schuylkill River Trail I was talking to a friend of mine who has been in technology sales with AT&T for over 15 years; he mentioned that he would love to try something new. His job has become stagnant, the company has really changed, there is a lot of red tape, and he is beginning to yearn for something new; the thought of trying something new is a hard pill to swallow though since he has been at it for so long now. What he said was this,
I almost wish I would get laid off so my hand would be forced to do something different.
Regarding those 20% I mentioned above who are have started their own consulting practices- these folks may be the future leaders of the industry; they may be the ones that start hiring people and getting people back to work; and they may have just started a business that will one day break into the ENR top 100. That’s the silver lining I see in all of this…for those folks that started their own consulting practices, their hands may have been forced, and if they take that opportunity to go “all in,” that pink slip they were handed may turn out to be the best thing that has ever happened to them! And if you think it can’t happen, check out these firms:
Aging & Growing Gracefully:
Greeley & Hansen – started with 2 partners in 1914 and now have over 300 employees in 16 offices across the United States
Louis Berger Group – started in 1953 by Dr. Louis “Doc” Berger with a sole office in Harrisburg, PA, now an international consulting firm with thousands of employees
Just Getting Started:
Pacheco Koch Consulting Engineers – started in 1990 with 2 partners in Dallas, TX has since blossomed to dozens of employees in 3 offices throughout the state of TX
Borton Lawson – opened their doors in 1988 and now have 160+ employees in multiple offices throughout Pennsylvania
These firms were all conceived for different reasons and motivations. If your reason is because you were laid off, then so be it; NOW IT IS TIME TO TAKE THE BULL BY THE HORNS! I wish great success to all the new entrepreneurs our there who have decided to hang their own shingle, and maybe one day I will be blogging about how YOUR firm has thrived and how that may inspire others to follow in your footsteps!
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Got A Well Baked Cupcake?
Featured Guest Blogger: Babette Ten Haken
Sales Aerobics for Engineers
Strategies and Toolkit for the Sales-Engineering Interface
Connect With Babette On Linkedin 
Read The Sales Aerobics For Engineers Blog
Had coffee with one of my marketing colleagues yesterday. Interesting conversation about how so many of our clients in the B2B marketplace perceive the discipline of Marketing as a superficial indulgence they engage in, reluctantly, from time to time.
After all, everyone knows Who You Are, which is the first sign and symptom of Word of Mouth syndrome. Your company has been around for a while. You’ve been drinking your own Kool-Aid® and believe your firm will be top of mind when an A/E firm is needed.
Let the newbie competitor engineering and architecture companies nipping at your heels engage in “marketing communications.” After all, the newbies are the ones who need the business, not your company, right?
Newsflash folks. No matter How Great You Think You Art, you are not as top-of-mind in the vendor selection process as you think you “art.” And those competitor companies nipping at your heels? They aren’t all local, or even domestic, competitors. Their marketing communications efforts firmly place their companies where their clients and prospects are looking and when they are looking to receive strong and consistent messages about the core competencies of their firms. And Where They Art, You Are Not. Now who is competing with whom? And in what market space?
Marketing isn’t the sprinkles on the cupcake, folks. It IS the cupcake. Marketing is the front end of cash flow. And if you are looking to shorten your business development, sales, and order-to-cash cycles, marketing is where you start. It’s not a matter of cold calling or constantly stopping by your customers and leaving coffee, donuts and brochures. It’s not a matter of wining and dining them or inviting them to your company’s annual golf outing.
The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Hmmm. Sounds a bit more noble than sprinkles on the cupcake. In fact, it sounds like marketing addresses how you identify prospective customers, the actions you take to secure these customers, and the strategies you use to retain these customers. Sounds like a plan to me. And it sounds like an endeavor that should be part of everyone’s job description.
Because everyone in your organization is the physical embodiment of your delivery of your core competencies against your marketing strategy and marketing communications. Yes, it’s that’s important.
So what kind of marketing strategy and communications does your company engage in? Especially since marketing appears to impact the type of cupcake you bake. Forget about the sprinkles. An annual ad in the ADA journal? A booth at a local trade show, maybe every other year? Purchase of Google ad words? A little bit of this, a little bit of that, dabbling instead of aggressively pursuing. Because the professions of architecture and engineering are noble and lofty, which preclude them from engaging in marketing communications? Huh?
Ah c’mon folks. Do you know how many people look for information about doctors on Angie’s List (yes, Angie’s List)? Do you know how many folks just type in local architect and call the company whose name starts with “A”, which usually is the local handyman or design-builder? Who ends up doing a good job?
If you don’t educate your current and prospective customers about Who Thou Art, they will never have an opportunity to find out How Great Thou Art. And you don’t have to necessarily feel like you are part of the latest chapter of Mad Men® when marketing. In fact, it might feel natural.
Marketing involves a bit more than hawking your wares. It’s more like growing your personal and corporate brand. In deeds, rather than words. In stewardship, rather than client dinners.
When’s the last time your firm published a white paper, worked with Engineers Without Borders®, taught a drafting class at the local trade school or partnered on the local Habitat for Humanity® project? When’s the last time you invited your prospective and current clients to join with you in these efforts?
That’s the real marketing. Because that’s what matters. That is how you can walk your talk and show how your art and craft is all about making this place far more tolerable and habitable for society.
That’s the recipe for a well-baked cupcake. One that your clients will want to buy. Over and over again.
Think about it.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
The End of the World is Upon Us! (Naw, not really, its just the end of the 3rd quarter)
Featured Guest Blogger: Babette Ten Haken
Sales Aerobics for Engineers
Strategies and Toolkit for the Sales-Engineering Interface
Connect With Babette On Linkedin
Read The Sales Aerobics For Engineers Blog
This is the time of year when many civil engineering and A/E consulting firms start pressuring their employees to complete outstanding projects for invoicing by year’s end. Now is the time of year when companies start pressuring their business development folks to bring in more work, win more contracts, make appointments with more people, talk to somebody, anybody who appears mildly interested in doing business with your company. It’s also the time when management simultaneously starts to threaten and cajole employees to become more productive and generate more revenue…. “or else.” It’s the time of year when we sometimes sit with our collective heads in our hands and wonder how we ever got ourselves into all this.
OK. Time to climb off your mental ledge and get your feet firmly back into the building. While I am not about to wave a magic wand and tell you that all will be OK, there are some things you should think about doing if you haven’t already started. Regardless of whether your corporate fiscal year aligns with the calendar year.
Some thoughts for teeing up for this fiscal year’s end and beyond….
- Next year’s business development campaign starts January 1 of the previous year. Clients’ and prospects’ sales years and cash flow simply do not align with your or your company’s need to generate revenue. You work for them, not the opposite. As you identify prospects and projects, put them into your “mental file folder:” is this particular project or client worth your time and effort, should they not be in a position to move forward for, say 12 months? Some of the big projects are won in this manner. You have to work differently with these types of clients and develop a strong understanding of how decisions are made within their corporate culture and infrastructure.
- Providing value to your clients doesn’t involve constantly jumping through their hoops. Some clients are sadistic: they treat all of their vendors in this manner, constantly changing their minds, upping the ante, and expecting not to be charged for their indecision and vanity. (You are not an advertising agency which self-selects for individuals who like living on the edge like this). Perhaps these are not the types of clients your company should be pursuing, even though they may offer the potential for landing big, juicy, high-profile projects. They may not treat you very well, while expecting you to put up with them and rack up a huge amount of non-billable hours in the process. If all of your clients are like this, how compromised and exhausted do you feel by the end of the year? Perhaps it’s time to clean out your client closet.
- Best may be better than optimal. While you pursue your technical quest for the optimal solution, how much is it costing your company? Unless you are an architectural or engineering genius and are the only reason your company was awarded the contract in the first place, you are part of a collaborative team effort. So communicate and determine whether the optimal solution really is optimal in the long run, before you pursue that design path. Depending on where we sit around the table, we see the same thing differently. Make sure you validate your ideas along with everyone else’s perspective. The best solution may be the most robust, in the long run.
What is your strategy for finishing up the current fiscal year? Let me know.
Like this:
One World Trade Center
Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc
Managing Partner, CivilEngineeringCentral.com
View Matt’s profile & connect with him on LinkedIn
Two Sunday’s ago we honored the heroes and victims of 9/11 not only across the United States, but around the globe; they will never be forgotten.
I just wanted to take a moment on our blog today to recognize those thousands of engineers, architects, planners, surveyors, and construction workers from the AEC industry who are now rebuilding at ground zero. The beautiful memorial, “Reflecting Absence,” designed by architect Michael Arad, is simple yet powerful. Equally as amazing, yet still under construction is what will be known as One World Trade Center; take a look at some of these facts:
* Height – 1776 to the spire, 1356 to the roof – this will make it the tallest building in the United States
* 3.2M Square Feet
* Estimated Cost: $3.2B
* Recognized as the most complex public works project in American History
* Being built on top of a subway
* Materials include steel girders that measure 60′ tall and weigh 70 tons each; blast walls made with 18K/square foot concrete; blast resistant glass on the top 20 floors; and a framework of armored concrete core designed to prevent “cascading catastrophic failure” that we all witnessed on 9/11
* 3500+ construction workers working around the clock
Take a look at this video of Matt Lauer touring One World Trade Center with Chris Ward, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey:
Though I am far from an engineer myself, I have always been amazed and fascinated by the work of engineers and architects. Imagine the collaboration, the patience, the imagination and creativity, and the amount of American spirit that is involved by these professionals working on this project. The complexities involved with this project from all perspectives – civil engineering, structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, MEP engineering, environmental, architecture, construction – is mind-blowing to me. Not to mention the politics and public input.
I guess what I am trying to say here is…WOW…and THANK YOU! I believe this is a project that absolutely needed to be done, despite the cost, and thank you to all of those who are a part of it. And to the most of you who are not a part of it, thank you for all that you do. Engineers typically are low profile and are not recognized for the amazing and critical work that they do on a daily basis…so thank you!
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Civil Engineers: It’s Time to Get Organized from A to Z
Featured Guest Blogger: Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, ACC
Civil Engineer, Author, Coach and Speaker
Author of Engineer Your Own Success: 7 Key Elements to Creating an Extraordinary Engineering Career
Anthony is also the author of a FREE e-mail service for engineers called A Daily Boost from Your Professional Partner. Click here to read about this service.
I read a book not too long ago entitled Getting Things Done by David Allan. The book provides strategies and an overall process for getting organized and becoming more productive. One strategy that I’ve been able to take from this book and not only use myself, but also help engineers to implement through coaching is David’s A to Z filing system.
It is common amongst us civil engineers for papers to pile up on our desk throughout the course of the day. Papers, plans, invoices, etc can swallow up our office. Every once in a while it will become so overbearing that we’ll take a whole day and clean out our office which usually consists of throwing most of these items out. Does this sound familiar?
David’s A to Z system is a great process that will help you to get and STAY organized. Here is how it works. Start by designating one large filing drawer or an entire filing cabinet for you’re A to Z system. Fill the cabinet with 26 hanging folders and label them A through Z. Next, start making a list of all of the items that you might file away (i.e. example, specifications, estimates, manufacturers information, stormwater guidelines, etc.). Then create a file folder for each one of these items and be sure to label them clearly. Then the fun part begins. Starting with your desk begin to file away items into the proper folders. You may have to create new folders along the way or slightly modify the system over the first few weeks. For example, you might have to decide on whether you want to use the word ‘drainage’ or ‘stormwater’ which will determine whether that folder ends up in ‘D’ or ‘S.’
After a few weeks of implementing this system, your office will be clean! Then you just have to work on keeping it clean, which is pretty easy with this system. As items come across your desk simply file them into the proper folder or create a new one, when necessary.
You may think that this system is extremely simplistic and actually it is. I have successfully implemented this system both in my office and in my home and I never have a problem finding something. I hope this tip is helpful for you can bring more balance to both your career and your life.
Please share any organizational strategies that you are currently using!
Project/Team Communication: Make Every Word Count
Featured Guest Blogger: Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, ACC
Civil Engineer, Author, Coach and Speaker
Author of Engineer Your Own Success: 7 Key Elements to Creating an Extraordinary Engineering Career (Available in May 2011)
Anthony is also the author of a FREE e-mail service for engineers called A Daily Boost from Your Professional Partner. Click here to read about this service.
Engineer Your Own Success, by Anthony Fasano, PE
This post is an excerpt from Anthony Fasano’s new book Engineer Your Own Success: 7 Key Elements to Creating an Extraordinary Engineering Career. Anthony is a design engineer turned executive coach, speaker and author and now spends his time helping engineers around the world to create careers that are exciting, enjoyable, and rewarding while being well-balanced. In this post Anthony provides strategies for effective project communication in today’s fast-paced world.
In some respects, technology has made it more of a challenge to communicate with your colleagues or at least keep the communication consistent. By colleagues I am referring to your co-workers as well as other consultants that you may work with on a project team.
The key to communicating in today’s world is to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Whether you decide to use the phone, email, or any other type of web application is not the most relevant factor. It’s important that you keep everybody up-to-date on what’s going on with the project, as failure to do so can negatively impact its success, the cohesiveness of your team, and most importantly your relationship with your clients. For example, how do you think one of your clients would feel if you called them asking the same question that another team member had just emailed them about 30 minutes earlier? Your client is going to feel like their time is being wasted and he or she is going to see first hand that your team is not coordinated, both of which may jeopardize your relationship with the client as well as their impression of you and your employer.
To avoid this type of communication mix-up, you must have some kind of system in place that makes it easy to keep everyone up-to-date in real time. Perhaps set up a company policy in which one team member is designated to handle all e-mail correspondence with the client. Another option may be to have a project specific website or e-mail account where everyone can see exactly what’s going on, again in real time. Having a good system in place could mean the difference between completing a so-so project or a great one.
In conclusion, be sure that when you work with a team, you establish clear communication guidelines as early as possible on the project. Communication (especially on a team) is crucial because the lack thereof will lead to conflict, which can affect the quality of their work and really put a damper not only on the project but your career as a whole. When people don’t communicate with each other, they start to make assumptions about what the other person is thinking or what actions they are going to take. These assumptions can lead to decisions that negatively impact the team, the project, and the company as a whole.
Order your copy of Engineer Your Own Success: 7 Key Elements to Creating an Extraordinary Engineering Career within the next 24 hours and receive two incredible bonus gifts (FREE). Go to http://EngineerSuccessToday.com. A portion of each book sold will be donated to Engineers Without Borders.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
